Records management system and method with excerpts

ABSTRACT

A records management system and method that permits paper records to be tagged, stored and retrieved according to user criteria. The system includes a scanning module, a central server, one or more user workstations and an optical character recognition server. After scanning, the records may then be serialized and categorized by project, and then supplemented automatically by the system with a hypertext data file. The system provides for the manual input of additional hypertext data and merger of the hypertext data file with other records in the project. The end user may then search and/or filter records according to information contained in the hypertext data file. Output from the system may include summary excerpts whereby summaries for data contained in select pages of each document in a project are associated with at least dates, page numbers, and providers for the data.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/853,927, filed Aug. 10, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,301,611, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/008,139 filed Jan.9, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,882,091, the entirety of both of which areherein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present disclosure relates to records management and, moreparticularly, to a records management system and method that permit auser to tag, store and/or retrieve pertinent records based on usercriteria.

2. Description of Related Art

Records have long been an important part of everyday life. For example,physicians are required—under various laws—to maintain medical recordsfor a certain period of time. These records can be quite useful indiagnosis and analysis of a patient's condition, particularly when thepatient has been seen by multiple doctors.

These medical records can also be useful to legal professionals when,for example, a patient files a worker's compensation claim or when apatient files a claim for medical malpractice.

In the past, medical records were largely maintained as paper records infile rooms. However, as the volume of paper records increased, so didthe space required to store them. As a result, those persons responsiblefor maintenance of these medical records moved to electronic scanningand storage of their medical records.

Although advances have been made in that medical records areelectronically stored, the process of reviewing the records is notnecessarily as streamlined or cost effective as it could be. Forexample, an attorney responsible for reviewing and analyzing a worker'scompensation or medical malpractice claim may charge by the hour. Thelonger it takes to review the medical records, the greater the amount ofmoney expended for the records review.

Along the same lines, doctors and other professionals may need readyaccess to pertinent medical records in order to make vital medicaldecisions regarding a course of treatment for a patient. In thisinstance, a shortened time for medical records review may be crucial. Inaddition, doctors may be responsible for numerous patients at a singlepoint in time. Time taken for one patient may mean time unavailable foranother. This factor also highlights the need for a more streamlinedmedical records review.

Accordingly, there is a need for a records management system and methodthat permit rapid retrieval and filtering of pertinent electronicrecords.

When attorneys and doctors are presented with a voluminous recordsproject, they may need not only a streamlined and cost effective way toreview the records, but they may also need a streamlined and costeffective way of creating a new custom-built record that includes onlythe pertinent information that was reviewed.

Accordingly, there is a need for a record storage and retrieval systemthat permits the creation of a new record that includes on the pertinentinformation reviewed.

At times, when legal professionals are involved in the review of medicalrecords for purposes of worker's compensation claims, medicalmalpractice claims and the like, they may need to readily cite toparticular pages of those records in litigation. Accordingly, there is aneed for a record storage and retrieval system and method that readilypermit citation to those records if needed.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure addresses the foregoing deficiencies of the priorart by providing a records management system and method that permittagging, storage and retrieval of electronic records based on usercriteria. In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, arecords management system is provided. The system comprises a locationdesignation module configured to designate an electronic storagelocation for said each representation of a page; and a data moduleconfigured to create an electronic data file that corresponds to saideach representation of a page, wherein the electronic data file relatessaid each representation of a page to a document within the project. Theelectronic data file includes the electronic storage location for saideach representation of a page.

The system further comprises at least one workstation configured toreceive input of additional data for the electronic data file, the inputadditional data further including a category for said eachrepresentation of a page, a date for said each representation of a page,and a provider for each said representation of a page; and asupplementation module configured to supplement the electronic data filewith said input additional data for the electronic data file.

The system still further includes a merging module configured to mergesaid each representation of a page with the corresponding electronicdata file for each said representation of a page such that said eachrepresentation of a page and the corresponding electronic data file areaccessible from a single electronic project file.

Finally, the system includes output that is a summary excerpt for atleast one representation of a page. The excerpt includes at least onedate, at least one page number and at least one provider associated withthe at least one representation of a page.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, arecords management method is provided. The method comprises the steps ofdesignating an electronic storage location for one or more electronicfiles that represent each page of each document in a project; andcreating an electronic data file that corresponds to said eachrepresentation of a page, wherein the electronic data file relates saideach representation of a page to a document within the project, whereinsaid electronic data file includes the electronic storage location forsaid each representation of a page.

The method further comprises receiving input of additional data for theelectronic data file, and a category for said each representation of apage, wherein the input additional data includes a date for each saidrepresentation of a page, and at least one provider for each saidrepresentation of a page; and supplementing the electronic data filewith the input additional data.

The method still further comprises merging said each representation of apage with the corresponding electronic data file for said eachrepresentation of a page such that said each representation of a pageand the corresponding electronic data file are accessible from a singleelectronic project file.

Finally, the method comprises outputting at least one summary excerptfor at least one representation of a page, the summary excerpt includingat least one date, at least one page number and at least one providerfor the at least one representation of a page.

These, as well as other objects, features and benefits will now becomeclear from a review of the following detailed description ofillustrative embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a records management system in accordance with one embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustration of a method for records managementin accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a screenshot illustration of records that have been sorted bydate and category in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a screenshot illustration that results from a user query fordocuments containing a particular search term in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a screenshot illustration of records that have been sorted bylocation and category in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 is a screenshot illustration of a viewer application as a usersearches and filters selected records in accordance with one embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a screenshot illustration of filtered records as the userprepares to create and print a new record that contains only thefiltered records in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 8 is an example of electronic output from the records managementsystem and method that includes excerpts in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

The records management system of the present disclosure may be used totag and store paper or electronic records so that a user can sort,filter, and edit documents that better show the information in which theuser is interested.

Referring now to FIG. 1, illustrated is a records management system 100in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. Includedwithin the records management system 100 is a scanning module 110 thatis operatively coupled to a central server 120. Also illustrated areworkstations 130, 140, 150 and an optical character recognition engine160, each of which is also operatively coupled to central server 120.

It should be understood that connections between the various componentsof the system 100 may be configured in any number of ways to advance thegoals of the present disclosure without departing from the inventiveconcept. For example, the connections between various components ofsystem 100 may be made via wide area networks (such as the Internet) aswell as local area networks (LAN's). Moreover, the connections may be,without limitation, wireless or wired.

Each one of workstations 130, 140, 150 may be a conventional personalcomputer. Workstations 130, 140, 150 may be provided, for example, asIBM® compatible computers, APPLE® MACINTOSH® personal computers,UNIX®-based workstations, or any other equivalent computer systems,whether laptop, desktop or otherwise. Under some circumstances, theworkstations 130, 140, 150 that may be used to input and receiveinformation from the central server 120 may be personal digitalassistants (PDA's) or any other such device. The computer system usedmay also be e.g., a WINDOWS® hand-held device. Some mobile phones may beused to input and receive information, where such capability isavailable.

Each of workstations 130, 140, 150 may include a central processing unit(not shown), a display 165, a mouse 170, and a keyboard 175 forreceiving user input into the system. While three workstations 130, 140,150 are shown in the present illustration, it should be understood thatthere could be only one workstation, or a large number of workstationsdepending on the capacity needed for a particular implementation of thesystem of the present disclosure. Both the mouse 170 and the keyboard175 may be coupled to the user's workstation so that the user's computermay receive information that is input by him/her, and so thatinformation can be routed through the network 180 to the central server.

The networks 180, 185 in the current illustration are the Internet;however, the networks 180, 185 may be any other type of wide areanetwork, local area network, or other means by which workstations maycommunicate with the central server.

The exemplary workstations are for descriptive purposes only. Althoughthe description may refer to terms commonly used in describingparticular computer systems, the description and concepts equally applyto other processing systems, including systems having architecturesdissimilar to those shown in FIG. 1.

The read only memory (ROM) for each of workstations 130, 140, 150 mayoperate to effect permanent storage of information. Random access memory(RAM) for each of workstations 130, 140, 150 may operate to effecttemporary storage of information. Each of the aforementioned componentsmay be coupled to a bus. Operation of workstations 130, 140, 150 may begenerally controlled and coordinated by operating system software. Withthe records system 100 of the present disclosure, the operating systemthat runs on workstations 130, 140, 150 may be, but is not limited to,MICROSOFT® WINDOWS VISTA®, MICROSOFT® WINDOWS XP®, or a version of MACOS® or UNIX® operating system or the like.

Alternatively, the principles of the present invention can be applied toa computer system using a version of DOS (disk operating system), orother operating system programs. An operating system resident in systemmemory and executed by the CPUs of workstations 130, 140, 150 maycoordinate the operation of the other elements of workstations 130, 140,150.

Data and software, including the filtering software to be described inmore detail hereinbelow, may be provided to and extracted fromworkstations 130, 140, 150 via removable storage media such as, withoutlimitation, a CD-ROM or DVD.

Data may also be provided to workstations 130, 140, 150 via scanner 110and software for reading information via the scanner 110. Scanner 110may be, without limitation, an optical character recognition (OCR)scanner.

Workstations 130, 140, 150 may include a communications adapter whichallows the workstation to be interconnected to a local area network(LAN), a wide area network (WAN) or a public network. Thus, records dataand related computer program software can be transferred to and fromworkstations 130, 140, 150 via the adapter and network 180.

Portions of the filtering software used to achieve the purposes of thepresent disclosure can be resident on workstations 130, 140, 150.Alternatively, all of the filtering software may be resident on centralserver 120 such that web-based storage and filtering may occur.

Referring now to FIG. 2, shown is a flow chart illustration of a method200 for records management in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent disclosure. As illustrated, the method 200 may begin withscanning paper documents for each page of a document in a project atstep 205 using a scanner; the scanner may operate with and/or becontrolled by associated software that provides for image cleanup andoptimization.

A project as described herein may be composed of a series of relateddocuments. The documents may be deemed related by an end user, or thecompany/entity providing the scanning services, or a company/entityproviding records maintenance services, and/or any other person/entity.For example, the end user of the system of the present disclosure maysubmit a series of documents for use with the system of the presentdisclosure. Also by way of example, the company that provides thescanning services may group all the documents for a particular end userinto a group, thus identifying the documents as a project.

The documents in a project may consist of or include, for example,medical and other records related to a worker's compensation injury, amedical malpractice claim or any other grouping of records relevant to aparticular goal. Documents in a project may also consist of, or include,for example, medical records for a particular person or all persons inan organization. While the present disclosure describes the project asincluding medical records, it should be understood that the recordscould be any number of types of records including but not limited tocourt files, merger/acquisition documents, employment records or anyother type of record whether business or personal.

At step 210, software used in conjunction with the present disclosuremay receive and/or create one or more image files for each scanned pageof each document in the project. The image file may be created in atagged image file format (TIFF), a joint photographics expert group(JPEG) format, a portable network graphics (PNG) format, a graphicalinterchange format (GIF) or other format that is suitable forrepresenting each page of a document in a project. Each page may berepresented in one or more of these formats or any other suitable imageformat.

It should be understood that the system and method of the presentdisclosure are also suitable for use with records that are not scanned,but are in another format such as a word processing application likeMICROSOFT® WORD®, a chart format such as those found in MICROSOFT®EXCEL® or other type of program that can be used to create a record. Inthis case, the scanning of paper records and the creation of image fileswould not be necessary. Moreover, the later-described optical characterrecognition may not be necessary for translating text from the imagefiles into machine-readable text since the text in electronic file mayalready be machine-readable.

At step 220, each page of the scanned paper records in the project maybe ordered serially and given a serial number, Bates label or otherunique identification code for each page. Software resident on thecentral server and/or workstations may be configured to provide thisfunctionality. The software may begin the serialization process as soonas the pages are scanned or at any other suitable time.

At step 230, software resident on the central server and/or workstationsmay also designate an electronic storage location for each scanned pageof each document in a project. This will allow the end user to easilyascertain the storage location of a particular record. The location maybe, e.g., a project folder.

At step 240, software resident on the central server and/or workstationsmay create a description of each scanned page of each document in aproject.

At step 250, software resident on the central server and/or workstationsmay build an electronic data file for each scanned page of each documentin the project. This electronic data file may be or include a hypertextdata file. It is important to note that the data record in the hypertextdata file (metadata) may be used to relate the page to the particulardocument within the project.

The hypertext data file may include the unique identification codes,image files, locations and page descriptions as well as otherinformation related to the project. The hypertext data file may alsoinclude a source indicator for the each scanned page, e.g., the authoror the company from which the document originated. The hypertext datafile may further include a date associated with the page. The date maybe, for example, the date of creation of the page or a date of deliveryfor the record if the record is from a third party.

The hypertext data file may also include a category for each page. Thecategory may be, for example, copy service paperwork in case the recordsrelate to a legal proceeding. The category may also be more generic suchas “general or administrative.” In the case of medical records, thecategories may include, by way of example and not limitation, doctor'snotes, laboratory, nursing, radiology, reports, and the like. In brief,the category may be any category that is useful to the end user. Thehypertext data file may be uploaded to the central server so thatadditional identifying input may be performed by humans as describedimmediately below. The user may also be permitted to upload his/her owndocuments and add them to the document group for searching and otherfunctions just as if the newly added documents were in the original setof documents.

The central server now has all of the above-identified informationrelated to the project. At this point, a manual process of identifyingmetadata and key text on the pages of documents may be performed bytrained human readers at workstations that are operatively coupled tothe central server as described in connection with FIG. 1.

This metadata and key text may include any pertinent information thatwould allow the records to be easily retrieved. For example, thismetadata and key text may include an author for the pertinent recordpage; a date of the page, note or report; a category for each recordtype; and a provider for each record page. This metadata and key textmay be added to the hypertext data file. At step 260, this metadata andkey text that were input by the humans at their workstations may betransmitted to, and received by, the central server. Thus, tracking ofthe metadata to the page, document, and project may be preserved. Theinformation input by the trained readers may be included in data fieldsand/or data types used to sort and filter the records, respectively.

At step 270, software resident on the central server and/or workstationsmay supplement the hypertext data file with the input of additionaldata. Once the hypertext data file is completed for the series ofdocuments it may be merged together into one project file at step 280.

The hypertext data file may be encrypted for privacy reasons, includingthose related to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act(HIPAA). Software resident on the server and/or workstations may be usedto perform encryption functions. Such software is commerciallyavailable.

The software of the present disclosure may cause represented pages ofthe project to be passed through an optical character recognition (OCR)engine server at step 290. The OCR engine server may be used totranslate handwritten or typed text from the one or more image filesinto machine-readable text.

Software resident at the central server and/or workstations may alsoindex the entire text of the project at step 293 and add that text tothe hypertext data file at step 294 so that it may be used forfiltering, sorting and editing by the end user at step 295 upon reviewof the records. This filtering, sorting and editing of step 295 aredescribed in further detail hereinbelow in connection with FIGS. 3-7.

While the steps of the method have been described hereinabove in aparticular order, this order is non-limiting. It should be understoodthat the order could vary while still accomplishing the goals of thisdisclosure without departing from the inventive concept.

Once the project is assembled, it may be delivered to the end-user viaCD, DVD, online download, FTP, USB key, or any other type of suitabledata transfer means.

Now, the end user charged with reviewing the records in a project canopen the project in a viewer application provided by filtering softwareused in accordance with the present disclosure. The end user may operatethe software on a computer system similar to those of the workstationsdescribed hereinabove in connection with FIG. 1. Using this viewerapplication, the end user can sort the metadata by any of the fields,such as description, date of the page, record location, author of therecords, etc. This sorting capability permits the end user to “shuffle”together pages from various documents in a project so that the end usermay view these pages in a sequence that allows the end user to spottrends the end user may be seeking.

Referring now to FIG. 3, illustrated is a screenshot 300 of records thathave been sorted by date and category. As shown, records may be mixedfrom different sources altogether, and “shuffled” by date and category.A records listing may be found in the background screen 310. A viewerwindow 315 is shown in the foreground.

When an end user double-clicks on a record or page, e.g., at text box320, the end user may obtain the viewer window that shows the record orpage. On that page, the end user can see the category for the record'spage as shown at column 330, the location of the record from which thepage came as shown at column 340, and the original page number in thoserecords (hidden). As shown at background screen 310, the records havebeen sorted according to date. Also provided may be a location for theuser to type and save notes. Navigation buttons may permit the usercontinue to page through the current sort, viewing each page in thesequence the user currently has going on the main form. The software ofthe present disclosure may keep track of where each page being viewedbelongs with respect to the original documents submitted.

Using filtering software as described in the present disclosure, pagesmay be marked as deleted or suppressed by the user according to datatype so that undesired pages are filtered out while the user is viewingthe project. Examples of data types are the location or author of a setof pages, which can also be easily filtered out of the project using aviewer application provided by the software described in the presentdisclosure, adding to the efficiency of viewing the project documents.Other data types include provider name and category, which may befiltered such that only records from certain categories or provider aregrouped together in a listing. The record pages can be filteredaccording to date range, and based on whether notes or edits were madeto the record page. Additional data types can be identified and filteredin or out as the end user desires. Alternatively, filtering could occursuch that pages are marked so that only pages related to data types aredisplayed.

Text searches can be performed within the viewer application provided bythe software described in the present disclosure. A search can beperformed of both the scanned text of the record pages, and the metadatathat was created. The viewer application may build a new subset of pageswhere the text appeared, and display the list according to the existingsort order and filter the user had in place at the time the search wasperformed. This helps narrow down the pages the user must read whenlooking for the trends or evidence that the end user seeks.

Notes may be typed for any page within the provided viewer applicationand saved to the metadata file. This data may be included in subsequentsearches.

The metadata for the pages that was originally created as part of theservice can be edited and saved into the project by the end user.

As described above, the end user of the viewer application can build acustom set of pages that is sorted and filtered just the way they wantto see them. They can then create a new PDF document of the resultswhich can then be printed, saved to disk, emailed, etc. The subsequentPDF can be scanned using an OCR scanner, and can include customwatermarks/stamps and page numbering schemes.

The filtering software described herein may be a desktop application anda web application (when the documents are stored on a web or filetransfer protocol (ftp) site).

Referring now to FIG. 4, illustrated is a screenshot 400. Here, the userhas entered a search query for the record pages that contain the term“abdominal” as indicated at text box 410. The user has double-clicked toget the page in the records where the word “abdominal” appeared. Asillustrated by the text shown in text box 420, the word “abdominal” didnot appear in the records. However, as shown in text box 420 ahand-written note is shown with the word abdominal abbreviated thereonas “abd.” Many of today's search engines might not have found this word.The “Search for” textbox may be used with a search engine style ofsyntax for query commands. Search commands can be used on the reviewdata, OCR data from the images themselves, and/or a combination of both.

The viewer application may include a full search engine. Wildcards maybe used, partial searches, fuzzy searches, etc. may all be included insearches performed. Search commands may be performed using a variety ofquery syntaxes. The query can range from single term searches to morecomplex search queries involving wildcards and Boolean operators. Forexample, where a user wishes to search for the term “knee”, the viewerapplication should display results of all record pages and/or the pages'metadata that contain the word “knee.” The user may also search for thephrase “left knee.” In this case, the viewer application would displayall pages and/or metadata that contain the phrase “left knee.”

Various fields of data for the record pages can also be searched. Forexample, the user could perform a search of all records that containknee in the title field using a “title:knee” query. Wildcard searchesmay be performed by inserting a wildcard indicator such as “?” or “*”.For example, where a user enters the query “abdom*”, the search resultswould include pages that contain the word “abdomen” and “abdominal.”

Users may also perform fuzzy searches which will include results forterms having the same or similar spelling. For example, if the userwishes to search for “abdomen,” but spells it incorrectly as “abdomen,”the search results should include pages that include the word “abdomen.”

The user may restrict searches to particular ranges using a range query.For example, the user may search for pages that have particular datesassociated therewith. If a user only wishes to see those results thatare associated with the year 2006, the user could input the search query“date: 20060101 TO 20061231.” It should be noted that other rangesearches may also be available to the user.

Boolean operators may also be used as search queries in accordance withthe present disclosure. For example, if a user wishes to pull all pagesthat contain the terms “knee” and “abdomen” the user may input thesearch query “knee or abdomen.” The results should include all pagesthat contain the term knee, as well as all pages that contain the word“abdomen.” If the user wishes to view all pages that contain the terms“knee” and “abdomen” together, the user may input the search query “kneeand abdomen.” The results should include all pages that contain the term“knee” and “abdomen” for a single page.

Other types of search queries may be used in accordance with the presentdisclosure. For example, the user may not wish to view certain pages andfilter them out. If a user wishes to view all pages that contain knee,and is curious but not set on getting all the results that contain“left” as well, the user may input the search query “left+knee” toaccomplish this result.

Referring now to FIG. 5, illustrated is a screenshot 500 that shows aviewer application provided by filtering software in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure. As shown under the “Filter”drop-down menu at text box 510, there are three sources of records.Here, the user has chosen not to view or search the personnel records asindicated by unchecked text box 520. Because the “Records by Location &Category” tab has been selected as indicated by user selection of tab530, the records are displayed in this manner using these data types.

Referring now to FIG. 6, illustrated is a screenshot 600 that shows theviewer application as the user runs a search of selected records. Here,as shown by text box 610 under the “Filter” drop-down menu, records areavailable from three sources, including Dr. Anderson's medical records,Dr. Johnson's medical records and a corporation's personnel records. Inthe screenshot of FIG. 6, the user has filtered out Dr. Johnson'smedical records for viewing and searching. The user has also entered, asearch query for records related to patient John Doe's “left knee”, asindicated by text box 620. This allows the user to search for each pageof the Dr. Anderson's records as well as Corporate Aerated's personnelrecords for the phrase “left knee”. Also as shown, the “Records byLocation & Category” tab has been selected at tab 630.

In this manner, the user can build a new set of records using the viewerapplication. The new set of filtered records may be created as an imagefile, a .pdf file or any other type of format. The new file containingthe filtered records may include Dr. Anderson's records and CorporateAerated's personnel records. This new file may include data that isfiltered by location, sort order and even search criteria.

Referring now to FIG. 7, illustrated is a partial screenshot of thefiltered records of FIG. 6 as the user prepares to print the new filecontaining the filtered records. More particularly, here, the user ispreparing to print the new file containing Corporate Aerated's personnelrecords which have been highlighted at text box 705 as well as Dr.Anderson's medical records which has an arrow pointing to text box 715.As shown, the user has selected the print option at text box 710. Asshown at the right at text boxes 720, 730, the category for theserecords, as filtered by the user, is “general/admin.”

It should be understood that data can be filtered based on anyinformation in the hypertext data file. Filtering can be performedaccording to the data type of provider name as shown in FIG. 7 such thatrecords from certain providers are removed from the display. Filteringcould also occur by the data type of category. For example, the usercould view only those records that are categorized as “doctor's notes.”Various date ranges can also be filtered as data types. For example, auser could view only those records that incorporate a certain daterange. Filtering could also occur such that the user only views pagesthat do not have note text. The user could then type notes only forcertain pages. The user could then filter the records such that onlythose pages with notes are displayed.

The records management system and method of the present disclosure maybe used to tag and organize paper or electronic records so that an enduser can sort, filter, and edit documents that better show theinformation in which the user is interested. The end user can thenshuffle through the documents in the order preferred by the end user,thus readily permitting a focused review of the records for purposessuch as trend-spotting.

The records management system and method of the present disclosure maybe used to create summary excerpts which may be output from the system.The summary excerpt output from the records management system may beelectronic or hard copy. In the case of electronic output, after theproject has been scanned and each page categorized, a searchableelectronic file may be created of the records in the project. Theresulting electronic page representations may then be bookmarked. Itshould be noted that, in the case of hard copy output, the records maybe grouped and separated with a paper tab in lieu of a bookmark.

Referring now to FIG. 8, illustrated is an example of electronic outputfrom the records management system that includes summary excerpts. Asshown to the left of the screen, the output may include a bookmarksection 810 that shows a user how to quickly locate the excerpt, tableof contents, copy service paperwork, the start of the records compiledfor the user, doctor's notes, radiology/diagnostics, laboratory,general/med (or general/medical) and general/admin (or generaladministrative) categories for the records. Categories were described indetail hereinabove. The electronic output may be sent to the screenand/or printer. It should also be noted that when the records are outputin hard copy, the records may be output from the system to a printerwith physical tabs that indicate where the documents associated with thepertinent categories begin.

In the present illustration, the excerpt bookmark in the bookmarksection 810 of the screenshot 800 has been selected. Accordingly, anexcerpt is shown in display section 820. The excerpt bookmark shown inthe bookmark section 810 includes information from the hypertext datafile that has been supplemented by skilled readers. Such skilled readersmay be trained, for example, to summarize data from the records that maybe of interest to doctors and lawyers in a medical malpractice case.

In the present illustration, the summary excerpt has been presented inchronological order to give an informative portrayal of treatmenthistory. The summary excerpt is a synopsis of what is found on the page(or representation of a page). The summary excerpts may be used to inputhandwritten notes as searchable text. Here, skilled readers have readhandwritten notes and transcribed them into the records managementsystem. The transcription may be entered into the system in a number ofways, including by supplementing the hypertext data file. When abookmark is selected at section 810, display section 820 may displaypages grouped under the selected bookmark. Here, the excerpt bookmarkhas been selected at section 810; therefore, display section 820displays excerpts associated with the records.

Here, the excerpt includes a date column 830 that shows a date thatcorresponds to the associated records. The excerpts are displayed inchronological order. Here, as shown at the first row, the first excerptis dated “7/26/10”. At the second row, the later date of “8/24/10” isshown. Meanwhile at the third row, the still later date of “10/20/10” isshown.

As illustrated at column 840, the summary excerpt may further includeone or more links to the pertinent page(s) (or representations ofpage(s)) of the records for which the summary excerpt was written. Here,the first row shows links to pages 18-20 of the pertinent document.

As illustrated at column 850, the summary excerpt may still furtherinclude one or more providers for the associated pertinent page(s) (orrepresentations of page(s)) of the records for which the summary excerptwas written. As shown at the first and third rows, a single provider isgiven. At the second row, multiple providers are given for theassociated excerpt.

At column 860, the summaries written by the skilled readers are shown.Here, the summaries have been given the heading of progress notes. Thesesummary excerpts may include handwritten notes that have been typed inby human readers. Using the summary excerpts described herein, the enduser may get a clear picture of treatment history that may not have beenpreviously apparent.

While the specification describes particular embodiments of the presentinvention, those of ordinary skill can devise variations of the presentinvention without departing from the inventive concept.

I claim:
 1. A records management system, comprising: a locationdesignation module configured to designate an electronic storagelocation for each representation of a page of a document; a data moduleconfigured to create an electronic data file that corresponds to theeach representation of a page, wherein the electronic data file relatesthe each representation of the page to the document within a project,and wherein the electronic data file includes the electronic storagelocation for the each representation of a page; a server configured toreceive input of additional data for the electronic data file, theadditional data including a category for the each representation of apage and a date for the each representation of a page; a supplementationmodule configured to supplement the electronic data file with theadditional data for the electronic data file; a merging moduleconfigured to merge the each representation of a page with acorresponding electronic data file for the each said representation of apage such that the each representation of a page and the correspondingelectronic data file are accessible from a single electronic projectfile; and a summary excerpt of at least one each representation of apage.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a description moduleconfigured to create a description of the each representation of a page.3. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a serialization moduleconfigured to create a unique identification code for the eachrepresentation of a page.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the serveris configured to receive and store the one or more electronic files thatrepresent each page of each document in a project.
 5. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising: a scanning module configured to scan eachpage of each document in a project; an image file creation module, theimage file creation module configured to create image files from scannedpages; and wherein the server is coupled to the scanning module, theserver being further configured to receive the image files.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the summary excerpt of at least one eachrepresentation of a page includes a summary of a plurality of the eachrepresentation of a page from a plurality of documents.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the summary excerpt of at least one each representationof a page includes a page number associated with the at least one eachrepresentation of a page.
 8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:a viewer application configured to permit electronic sorting and displayof the each representation of a page and the corresponding electronicdata file, and wherein the electronic sorting is based on user selectionof a data field in the electronic data file.
 9. The system of claim 8,wherein the viewer application is further configured to receive input ofuser edits for at least one of the each representation of a page, andsupplement the electronic data file with the user edits.
 10. The systemof claim 8, wherein the viewer application is further configured topermit user input of a search query and display search results whenthere is a match between data in the electronic data file and the searchquery.
 11. A records management method, comprising the steps of:designating an electronic storage location for an electronic file ofeach representation of a page of a document; creating an electronic datafile, by utilizing a processor that executes instructions stored inmemory, that corresponds to the each representation of a page, whereinthe electronic data file relates the each representation of a page tothe document within a project, wherein the electronic data file includesthe electronic storage location for the each representation of a page;receiving input of additional data for the electronic data file, whereinthe additional data includes a category for the each representation of apage and a date for each the representation of a page; supplementing theelectronic data file with the additional data; merging the eachrepresentation of a page with a corresponding electronic data file forthe each representation of a page such that the each representation of apage and the corresponding electronic data file are accessible from asingle electronic project file; and providing a summary excerpt of atleast one each representation of a page.
 12. The method of claim 11,further comprising the step of: creating a description of the eachrepresentation of a page; and wherein the electronic data file includesthe description of the each representation of a page.
 13. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising the step of: creating a uniqueidentification code for the each representation of a page; and whereinthe electronic data file includes the unique identification code foreach representation of a page.
 14. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising the steps of: storing the merged the each representation of apage and the corresponding electronic data file; and in response to userselection of a data type in the electronic data file, filtering the eachrepresentation of a page according to the data type.
 15. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising the step of: scanning each page of eachdocument in a project to create electronic image files.
 16. The methodof claim 11, wherein the summary excerpt of at least one eachrepresentation of a page includes a summary of a plurality of the eachrepresentation of a page from a plurality of documents.
 17. The methodof claim 11, wherein the summary of at least one each representation ofa page includes a page number associated with the at least one eachrepresentation of a page.
 18. The method of claim 11, further comprisingthe step of: in response to user input of a search query, providingsearch results when there is a match between data in the electronic datafile and the search query.
 19. The method of claim 11, wherein theadditional data includes an author for each the representation of apage.
 20. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of:receiving input of a user edit for the each representation of a page;and supplementing the electronic data file with the user edit.